The cigarette smoke hung in the air like a dirty fog, thick and suffocating. The smell of spilled beer and sweat mingled, clinging to the walls and the air itself. The room was a mess. Mahjong tiles were scattered across a worn green table, and empty beer bottles lay on the floor, some already knocked over.
I ignored the stares from the people in the room and spotted an empty wooden stool near the main table. I walked over, pulled it out with a rough scrape against the floor, and sat down.
Beside me, a man with a face full of dragon tattoos and silver piercings turned to look at me. I didn't meet his gaze; I just stared straight ahead at the fat man on the sofa. He had to be the boss. Wang Lei.
This guy? I thought. The one who's going to connect me to Apple? I doubted it. He looked more like a low-level thug from an old Hong Kong movie.
"Hey!"
